Record changer

ABSTRACT

A record changer having a manually operable mechanism for cuing a tone arm to place the tone arm at a desired set-down position on a record. Also, a record changer having settable structure for automatic repeat playing of a chosen band or passage selected at random between the beginning and end of the grooves of the record.

United States Patent Bara [54] RECORD CHANGER [72] Inventor: Edward S.Ban, Elmwood Park, 111.

[73] Assignee: Warwick Electronics Inc.

[22] Filed: Jan. 19, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 3,887

[52] US. Cl. .274/10 R, 274/9 RA, 274/ 15 [51] ..Gllb15/00,Gl1b 17/06[58] Field ofSearch ..274/9 RA, 10R, 14, 15 R;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,158,844 [1964 Bowdle..340/174.1 C

[ 51 June 20, 1972 Primary Examiner-Leonard Forman AssistantExaminer-Steven L. Stephan Auorney-Hofgren, Wegner, Allen, Stellman &McCord 57 ABSTRACT A record changer having a manually operable mechanismfor cuing a tone arm to place the tone am at a desired set-down positionon a record. Also, a record changer having settable structure forautomatic repeat playing of a chosen band or passage selected at randombetween the beginning and end of the grooves of the record.

9 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PASS/16E v SFLEcrm? RECORD CHANGER CROSSREFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application embodiesimprovements to the record changer shown in Reed et al. U.S. Pat. No.3,394,938, granted- July 30, 1968, and the disclosure therein isincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention pertains to record changerswith manually operable structure for cuing the tone arm and withstructure for repeat playing of a selected passage or band of a record.

The prior art known to the applicant includes Reed et al. US. Pat. No.3,394,938, which discloses a commercial record changer providing forautomatic playing of inter-mixed records, with the size of the recorddetermined by record size sense mechanism for controlling the set-downposition of the tone arm and with the changer including mechanism forshutting-off of the changer after playing of the last record. Addedversatility is provided for such a record changer by the mechanismdisclosed herein wherein the set-down position of the tone arm can bemanually established through a cuing device and wherein mechanism isalso provided for repeat playing of a selected passage or band of arecord including the beginning and ending points thereof. The operationof such mechanism blocks the record changer from a normal recordsize-sense operation and from a last record shut-off operation.

SUMMARY An object of this invention is to provide a new and improvedrecord changer having provision for manual cuing of a tone arm.

Another object of the invention is to provide a record changer havingnew and improved mechanism for automatic, repeat playing of a chosenband or passage of a record selected at random.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a record changerwith a tone arm cuing device havinga manually movable member whichfunctions as a rest for the tone arm and which also has movements invertical and horizontal planes for causing corresponding movements ofthe tone arm and with structure provided for a controlled movement ofthe manual member upon release thereof for a controlled slow ratelowering of the tone arm onto a record.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a record changerwherein means are provided for controllingthe setdown position of a tonearm at any random point on a record, including a control member movablewith the tone arm and locked in a desired position to determine theset-down position for the tone arm and with means for locking out ofoperation the normal record size sense mechanism and the last recordshut off mechanism.

A further object of the invention is to provide a record changer asdefined in the precedingv paragraph wherein the end of the passage orband to be played is detemrined by a settable member which is in circuitwith an electromagnet for operating the velocity trip mechanism of therecord changer with the settable member being operated by a manualmember on the motorboard of the record changer. The settablemember isvariably positionable whereby a contact link carried by the mechanismassociated with the tone arm engages the settable member to close thecircuit to the electromagnet and actuate the velocity trip mechanism tomove the record changer througha record change cycle as if the end ofthe record had been reached.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view of the recordplayer;

FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view of the right-hand portion of the recordplayer, as viewed in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a vertical section, taken generally along the line 33 in FIG.I and with the changer in regular record playing operation;

FIG. 4 is a vertical section, on an enlarged scale. taken generallyalong the line 44 in FIG. 2 and showing the passage selection structurein active position;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary section of the same parts as shown at 5 theright-hand side of FIG. 4, but showing the parts in cycle for selectingthe beginning of a record passage;

FIG. 6 is a view, similar to FIG. 2 and showing the parts positioned forend-of-passage play operation;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view of pan of the mechanism shown in FIG. 6 andwith the parts in reset position for normal operation of the recordplayer; and

FIG. 8 is a view, similar to FIG. 6, of other parts of the mechanismshown in reset position for normal operation of the record changer.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The novel mechanisms disclosedherein are additions to a commercially available record changer, asshown in Reed et al. US. Pat. No. 3,394,938, referred to previously, andsaid patent may be referred to for a detailed description of the entirerecord changer. Insofar as necessary for an understanding of the novelmechanism added to such changer, reference has been made herein torecord changer structure as shown in said patent. Structurecorresponding to that shown in the patent has been given the samereference numeral as in the patent and a general description is givenherein, followed by a detailed description of the novel mechanism addedto the changer.

The record changer is shown generally in FIG. 1 and has a motorboard 20,mounting a turntable 22 for rotation thereon which is driven by a smalldiameter wheel 28 having a large diameter wheel 30 coaxial therewith anddriven by an output shaft 32 of a drive motor M. The speed setting forthe drive of the turntable is controlled by a speed selection lever 34and the off and on and reject operation for the record changer iscontrolled by a selector lever 35.

A tone arm 48 is movably mounted at one comer of the motorboard formovement between an outward rest position and a variety of operativepositions, with set-down positions determined by a record size sensingflag member 158 movably mounted within a housing 160. A center spindle74 extends upwardly from the turntable for mounting a stack of recordsin a normal record changer operation andhas suitable ejection mechanismfor causing sequential movement of individual records to the turntable.

The record changer is caused to function through a record change cycleby a drive mechanism powered from the rotation of the turntable. Thecycle is initiated by a velocity trip mechanism carried on a gear 80.The gear 80 is at the level of a gear 46' rotatable with the turntableand carries a velocity trip mechanism having a trip dog 84 pivoted onthe gear which can move into position to be engaged by a lug 44 on thegear 46 to commence rotation of the gear 80 and bring teeth on the twogears into mesh, since there is a gap in the teeth on the gear 80. Thevelocity trip, as is well known, is operated by engagement with a tab 96forming part of the trip mechanism engageable by an actuating arm 124which is pivoted to a setdown cam 222 for-the tone arm 48 at pivot 274.

When the gear 80 commences rotation, an eccentric pin 132 is caused torevolve and the pin operates in a slot in a rocker arm 136 which ismoved through a complete cycle during one complete revolution of thegear 80 This rocker arm carries an actuating pin 154 which performsseveral functions, including in and out movement of the tone arm, aswell as control of the size sense mechanism of the record changer. Theactuating pin 154 coacts with a dog 226 which is normally spaced beneaththe set-down cam 222 but, upon elevation of the. tone arm lift pin 66 bya cam surface 272 on the end of the rocker arm 136, the dog 226 iselevated through compression of a spring 228 surrounding the lift pin tocause engagement of the dog with the set-down cam 222 whereby rotativemovement of the dog, as caused by the actuating pin, results incorresponding rotation of the set-down cam 222 which is rota tivelyfixed to the tone arm 48.

The record changer also includes a set-down lever 204 which isbifurcated, having legs 206 and 208, with the lever being pivoted on apin 138 fixed to the motorboard. The setdown lever is urged in acounterclockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 2, by aspring 212connected between the lever and the motorboard. The set-down levercoacts with the set-down cam 222 and with a selector earn 184 which ismovable to a particular position as determined by the size of a recordto be played. The selector cam is held in the position shown in FIG. 2against the urging of the spring 194 by a lateral extension 218 of thelever arm 208 engaging a tab 188 on the selector cam. The position ofthe set-down lever 204 shown in FIG. 2 is established by a retractorlever 254 pivoted on the motorboard at 248 and engageable by theactuating pin 154 carried on the rocker arm 136.

The parts are positioned as shown in FIG. 2 as they would be duringplaying of a record. However during the record change cycle, theactuating pin 154 moves away from the retractor lever 254 to permitswinging of the set-down lever 204 and movement of the selector cam 184to a record size sense position. These parts are eventually positioneddependent upon the particular size of record moved to the turntable. Aswill be noted more specifically later, if the set-down lever 204 is heldin the position shown in FIG. 2, then the selector cam 184 is not freeto rotate and is held inactive.

A reject slide362 is movably mounted on the underside of the motorboardand has a return lever 396 associated therewith which is rotatablymounted by slots engaging pins 398 and 400 affixed to the motorboard andwhich has a tab 404 engageable in a slot 406 in the reject slide 362whereby linear movement of the reject slide results in pivoting movementof the return lever 396. The return lever is urged to the position shownin FIG. 2 by a spring 408.

The foregoing describes the basic elements of the record changernecessary for an understanding of the novel mechanism added thereto anda complete description of the basic record changer can be found in thepatent referred to above.

Because of the use of reference numerals corresponding to those found inthe referred to patent, the added structure is referred to herein withreference numerals beginning at 501.

The novel mechanism relates to direct manual positioning of a tone armand a stylus carried thereby to a desired position on a record supportedon the turntable and with means for selecting a desired band or passage.of a record in selecting both the beginning and end thereof and withautomatic repeat of playing of the band or passage until the changer isplaced into a reject operation which clears the settings of themechanism determining the beginning and end of a passage. During theserepeat operations, the record changer is caused to go through a normalrecord change cycle; however, there are no additional records supportedon the spindle 74; therefore, the record on the turntable is the recordwhich will have a particular band or passage repeated. Additionally, anormal record change cycle has the size select mechanism go through acycle which would indicate the presence of a 7-inch record when norecord is lowered to the turntable and, therefore, the novel mechanismincludes structure for holding the size sense mechanism inactive.

The tone arm 48 can be manually positioned at a desired location on arecord R without manual engagement of the tone arm. The mechanism foraccomplishing this includes a slightly upwardly bent lever 501 (FIGS. 1and 3) vertically rockably and horizontally pivotally mounted on themotorboard 20 by a pin 502 at the location of the bend in the lever. Anupwardly extending pin 503 at one end of the lever 501 has a tip 504 offriction material which is engageable with a disc 505 on the undersideof the tone arm when the lever is rocked to elevate the pin 503. Therocking and pivoting of the lever 501 is controlled from an actuator inthe form of a tone arm rest member 510 having a support shelf 511 forthe tone arm and which has a cylindrical body 512 mounted for verticalmovement and rotation on an internal pin 515 with a loose fittherebetween and a silicone damping fluid added therebetween. The lowerend of the body 512 has a downwardly extending pin 516 which engages ina slot in the end of the lever 501. With the tone arm 48 on the shelf511, the actuator is depressed to rock the lever 501 and raise the pin503 into engagement with the plate 505. Rotation of the actuator thenpivots the lever 501 and causes corresponding rotation of the tone arm48 to a desired position over a record. The actuator 510 is thenreleased and it slowly elevates, as controlled by the silicone dampingfluid. The elevating force is provided by the lowering movement of thetone am and also by a spring 517 positioned under the lever. Thiscontrolled slow elevation of the actuator results in a slow, controlledlowering of the tone arm to engage the stylus with a record.

To facilitate exact placement of the stylus onto a particular recordgroove, a light 520 is aimed toward the stylus and a plastic element 521extending from the end of the tone arm 48 is illuminated by the light520 to provide a clear visual indication of stylus location. The light520 is controlled by a switch 522 in series circuit with the light andhaving switch contacts 523 positioned beneath the actuator body 512 tobe brought into contact when the actuator is depressed.

The means for selecting the beginning of a band or passage on a recordfor repeat playing thereof is provided by structure which takes theplace of the set-down lever 204 and the selector cam 184 which nonnallydetermine the normal set-down positions for different diameter records.The primary element substituted for this structure is a control lever540 pivoted to a pin 541 extending downwardly from the motorboard. Thecontrol lever has a downturned end 542 for coaction with a surface 543(FIG. 2) of the set-down cam 222. This control lever 540, when freedfrom restraint, is positioned, as shown in FIG. 3, wherein by its weightthe end 542 is at a level of the set-down earn 222. As the set-down camfollows the rotation of the tone arm, the control lever 540 is also freeto follow and does not block movement, since it is free to pivot aboutthe pin 541. As the tone arm moves outwardly, the velocity tripactuating member 124 also moves outwardly and carries a spring 545 (FIG.8) which engages a downturned tab 546 on the lever 540 and carries thelever outwardly against a stop 547 fixed to the motorboard. A stop 548on the other side of the pivot 541 limits the swinging of the controllever 540 in the opposite direction. i

From the foregoing, it will be seen that the control lever S40rotationally follows the position of the tone arm and does not interferewith tone arm movement. In the event it is desired to repeat play acertain passage, the selection of passage beginning is accomplished bydepressing a block 550 which carries the light 520 and which extendsthrough an opening in a panel 551 mounted on the motorboard as well asan opening in the motorboard. Block 550, at its lower end, is pivoted bya pin 552 to a lever 553 pivoted by a pin 554 to a downwardly extendingbracket 555. An opposite end 556 of the lever underlies an end 557 ofthe control lever 540 and is normally spaced therefrom, as shown in FIG.3. Depression of the block 550 brings ends 556 and 557 into contact andlifts the end 557 of the control lever whereby the control lever 540 isbrought into engagement with an abutment 558 to lock the control leverand flex the control lever which lifts the control end 542 out of thepath of the set-down cam 222 during nonnal movement of the tone arm butwhich is in the path of the set-down cam when the tone arm is beingmoved in a record change cycle.

When the control lever 540 is free for movement, it follows the set-downcam 222. When the block 550 is depressed, the

control lever 540 is held against further rotation and the control leverend 542 is lifted out of the plane of the set-down cam 222 so that thetone arm can move a further distance in toward the center of the record.This set-down position signal is retained, however, by the lockedcontrol lever 540. In the next record change cycle, the set-down cam 222will be elevated and will be positioned beneath the end 542 of thecontrol lever 540; therefore, the lever has sufficient upwardflexibility to permit upward movement of the set-down cam 222. Theset-down cam rotates as the tone arm moves outwardly and the set-downcam will move to a position past the end 542 of the control leverwhereby said end 542 can move back to its locked elevation and lie inthe plane of the surface 543 on the set-down cam. As the change cyclecontinues, the tone arm and setdown cam are moved inwardly and thismovement stops when surface 543 engages the end 542 of the controllever. As a final step in the record change cycle, the set-down cam 222is lowered and, thus, is beneath the end 542 of the control lever andthe set'down cam and tone arm are then free to move and follow therecord grooves.

The block 550 is held in locked position by a notch 560 therein engagingan edge of the notch in the motorboard. A push of the block 550 towardthe right, as viewed in FIG. 4, releases this catch relation and permitsupward movement of the block 550 to an inactive position. The block 550is urged to this position by a torsion spring 561, connected to thelever 553.

With the foregoing structure, each time the tone arm moves inwardly in arecord change cycle, a particular beginning point of a record, eitherthe'beginning of a particular band or a particular passage, can berepeated.

v The novel mechanism disclosed herein also includes structure fordetermining the end of a particular band or passage to be played, withan automatic repeat of this termination. This function is accomplishedby actuation of the velocity trip mechanism to cause beginning of aconventional record change cycle but as modified because of the controlof the beginning of the passage or band selection, as previouslydescribed. This mechanism includes structure for actuating the tab 96 ofthe velocity trip mechanism and specifically a pivoted,magnetic-responsive leaf spring lever 580 having an end 581 mounting thelever to a tab 582 secured to the motorboard. The lever 580 is normallypositioned, as shown in FIG. 2, out of contact with the velocity triptab 96, but canbe moved to the position of FIG. 6 where it has shiftedthe tab 96. This movement is caused by a motor in the form ofelectromagnet 585 mounted to the underside of the motorboard.Energization of the electromagnet 585 causes beginning of a recordchange cycle by actuation of the velocity trip mechanism. This startingof the record change cycle is shown in FIG. 6.

The electromagnet 585 has a power source provided by a very smallvoltage coming off a secondary winding from the coil of motor M.Electromagnet 585 has a wire 590 leading to the motor coil. A wire 594extends from the electromagnet and connects to a lever 595 formed of aconductive material which is pivotally mounted to the motorboard by aninsulated grommet 596 and which has a downtumed end 597 positioned inline with the path of travel of a contact wire 598 pivotally mounted atone end to the velocity trip lever 124 and guided in this movement by apair of downtumed tabs 599 and 600 on the motorboard. The contact lever595 and contact wire 598 are shown out of contact in FIG. 2, but shownin contact in FIG. 6 and, as shown in FIG. 6, the circuit is completedto energize electromagnet 585 and initiate the velocity trip mechanism.The contact wire 598 is grounded to the motorboard through connection totone arm lever 124.

As shown in FIG. 2, the contact lever 595 is inactive with the downtumedflange 597 thereof against a protruding insulating block 610 mounted onthe reject slide 362. With the parts positioned as shown in FIG. 2 andwith the tone arm intermediate the ends of a record, the contact lever595 can be swung into contact with the contact wire 598, which energizeselectromagnet 585 and initiates the record change cycle. The mechanismfor moving the contact lever 595 includes a plate 620 having one endpivoted at 621 to an operating lever 622 pivoted to the motorboard by apin 623. The plate 620 additionally has a slot 625 coacting with themounting pin 541 for guiding the movement of the plate. Movement of theplate 620 toward the left, as viewed in FIG. 2, causes counterclockwisepivoting of the contact lever 595 by engagement therebetween by means ofan interengaging friction tab 630 carried on the contact lever 595. Theoperating lever 622 is normally retained in the condition shown in FIG.3 by an over-center detent spring 631; however, pivoting movementthereof in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 3, will move theplate 5 620 and pivot the contact lever 595 to close the circuit for theelectromagnet. This setting will be maintained so long as the operatinglever 622 is moved toward the right, as viewed in FIG. 3. Depression ofthe block 550 and operation of the control lever 622 result indetermining the beginning and end of a particular passage or band on arecord that is to be repeat played.

In order to perform these operations, it is necessary to deactivate thenormal size sense mechanism for controlling the return position of thetone arm. This is readily accomplished by locking the set-down lever 204against movement and specifically by means of a stop rod shown in FIGS.2, 4, and 6. This stop rod 650 is pivotally fastened at oneend to thearm 208 of the set-down lever and is supported within the mountingbracket 555. The free end 651 of this rod is normally at a level beneatha plate 652 on the underside of the lever 553 mounting the block 550whereby when the mechanism for 1 selecting the beginning of a'passage isinactive the rod 650 is free to move back and forth as the set-downlever 204 moves in a cycle. When the block 550 is lowered tothe'position shown 'in FIG. 4 for automatic selection of the passagebeginning, it will be seen the stop plate 652 is brought into line withthe free end 651 of the rod 650, whereby the set-down lever 204 is heldagainst movement.

Operation of the record changer in a reject cycle clears both thebeginning and end controls for passage selection. For a reject cycle,the reject slide 362 is moved downwardly, as

viewed in FIG. 2, which causes pivoting movement of they return lever396 as in the manner described in the patent referred to. This returnlever has a finger 700. added thereto. As the return lever is pivoted ina reject cycle from the position shown in FIGS. 2 and 6 to the positionshown in FIG. 7, finger 700 engages in a loop 701 in a wire 702connected to a lever 703 pivoted at 704 to the motorboard and which liesadjacent the block 550. Movement of this lever imparts suffrcientmovement to the block to free the catch engagement with the notch 560 ofthe block, as will be evident in FIG. 4.

As shown in FIG. 7, the finger 700 also engages the plate 620 to restoreit .to initial position which also swings the contact lever 595 backto'a position to engage the insulating block 610.

All of the parts for controlling the beginning and end of a particularpassage are shown inactive in FIGS. 2 and 3, while FIGS. 4 and 5 showthe mechanism operative to control the beginning of a passage selectionand set-down position of the tone arm. FIG. 6 shows the mechanismpositioned for not only controlling the set-down position of the tonearm but also at the time when an end-of-passage operation has beendetermined and the circuit is completed to initiate the reject cycle.FIG. 7 shows the restoration of the beginning and end of passageselection means, while FIG. 8 shows the restoration of the control lever540 to an initial position.

With the structure disclosed herein, it is possible to provide formanual play of the record on the turntable and to manually operatemechanism to control the set-down position of the tone arm and, further,to select the beginning and end of a particular passage at random on therecord. This mechanism continues to operate for a plurality of plays ofthe particular passage and until such time as a reject operation isinitiated by operation of the lever 35.

I claim:

In an automatic record changer having a tone arm, a turntable, andrecord changer cycle means including means for actuating said recordchanger cycle means upon completion of play of a record, means formoving said tone arm outwardly beyond said turntable, and set-down meansfor causing said tone arm to move inwardly to at least one preselectedset down position, the improvement comprising: passage selecting meansactuable during normal play when said tone arm is at a cause said tonearm to move inwardly and be set down at said first desired positionafter compleation of a change cycle, and end of passage selector meansactuable when said tone arm is at a second desired position forinitiating operation of said record change cycle means, said end ofpassage selector means thereafter automatically initiating said recordchange cycle means at said second desired position.

2. A record changer as defined in claim 1 wherein. said record changerincludes mechanism providing a last record shut-off cycle wherein therecord changer is turned off after the last record on the turntable hasbeen played, and means for incapacitating said last record shut-offcycle mechanism when said passage selecting means is in use.

3. A record changer as defined in claim 1 having reject means forinitiating a record change cycle and means responsive to operation ofsaid reject means for deactivating said passage selecting means whensaid passage selecting means is in use.

4. A record changer as defined in claim 1 wherein said passage selectingmeans also includes manually operable means for moving said tone arm tothe beginning of a desired passage.

5. A record changer having a turntable with a tone arm, means foroperating the record changer through a record change cycle includingmovement of the tone arm outwardly beyond the turntable and back to aposition over the tumtable, and means for sensing the size of a recordto be played to control a set-down position of the tone arm where thetone arm engages a record on the turntable, the improvement comprising:mechanism for selecting the beginning of a desired passage on the recordfor repeat playing including, means for locking the record size sensemeans from operating to control the set-down position of the tone arm;and actuable means for establishing a set-down position of the tone armwhich is the position of the tone arm when said last-mentioned means isactuated.

6. A record changer as defined in claim 5 including settable means forcausing termination of the playing of a record in advance of the normalend of a record.

7. A record changer as defined in claim 6 wherein said record changerincludes mechanism for obtaining lat record 7 shut-off operation whereinthe record changer is turned ofi after the last record on the turntablehas been played, and said means for locking the record size sense meansalso prevents operation of the last record shut-off mechanism.

8. A record changer having a turntable with a tone arm, a motorboardbeneath the turntable, means for operating the record changer through arecord change cycle including movement of the tone arrn outwardly beyondthe turntable and back to a position over the turntable including aset-down cam movable with the tone arm, a control lever pivoted to saidmotorboard and having a surface engageable with the setdown cam wherebysaid lever is moved by the tone arm as the latter moves inwardly overthe turntable, means for locking said control lever against pivotalmovement when the tone arm is in the desired position to start a passageand positioning said surface at an elevation whereby the set-down camcan pass'by said surface, and means during a record change cycle forelevating said set-down cam to the same lever as said surface at saidelevation whereby the surface and set-down cam can contact to establisha tone arm set-down position followed by lowering of the set-down camfor movement of the setdown cam as the tone arm follows a record groove.

9. A record changer as defined in claim 8 having record size sensemechanism and last record shut-ofi mechanism including a movableset-down lever, and linkage connected to said set-down lever and heldagainst movement by said locking means to prevent operation of saidset-down lever.

2. A record changer as defined in claim 1 wherein said record changerincludes mechanism providing a last record shut-off cycle wherein therecord changer is turned off after the last record on the turntable hasbeen played, and means for incapacitating said last record shut-offcycle mechanism when said passage selecting means is in use.
 3. A recordchanger as defined in claim 1 having reject means for initiating arecord change cycle and means responsive to operation of said rejectmeans for deactivating said passage selecting means when said passageselecting means is in use.
 4. A record changer as defined in claim 1wherein said passage selecting means also includes manually operablemeans for moving said tone arm to the beginning of a desired passage. 5.A record changer having a turntable with a tone arm, means for operatingthe record changer through a record change cycle including movement ofthe tone arm outwardly beyond the turntable and back to a position overthe turntable, and means for sensing the size of a record to be playedto control a set-down position of the tone arm where the tone armengages a record on the turntable, the improvement comprising: mechanismfor selecting the beginning of a desired passage on the record forrepeat playing including, means for locking the record size sense meansfrom operating to control the set-down position of the tone arm; andactuable means for establishing a set-down position of the tone armwhich is the position of the tone arm when said last-mentioned means isactuated.
 6. A record changer as defined in claim 5 including settablemeans for causing terMination of the playing of a record in advance ofthe normal end of a record.
 7. A record changer as defined in claim 6wherein said record changer includes mechanism for obtaining last recordshut-off operation wherein the record changer is turned off after thelast record on the turntable has been played, and said means for lockingthe record size sense means also prevents operation of the last recordshut-off mechanism.
 8. A record changer having a turntable with a tonearm, a motorboard beneath the turntable, means for operating the recordchanger through a record change cycle including movement of the tone armoutwardly beyond the turntable and back to a position over the turntableincluding a set-down cam movable with the tone arm, a control leverpivoted to said motorboard and having a surface engageable with theset-down cam whereby said lever is moved by the tone arm as the lattermoves inwardly over the turntable, means for locking said control leveragainst pivotal movement when the tone arm is in the desired position tostart a passage and positioning said surface at an elevation whereby theset-down cam can pass by said surface, and means during a record changecycle for elevating said set-down cam to the same lever as said surfaceat said elevation whereby the surface and set-down cam can contact toestablish a tone arm set-down position followed by lowering of theset-down cam for movement of the set-down cam as the tone arm follows arecord groove.
 9. A record changer as defined in claim 8 having recordsize sense mechanism and last record shut-off mechanism including amovable set-down lever, and linkage connected to said set-down lever andheld against movement by said locking means to prevent operation of saidset-down lever.